The Demon Master's Wife (Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction Romance) (FORCED TO SERVE) (42 page)

Synar said a quick prayer of thanks as he held her tightly until the last echo had faded.

“What we share gets more amazing every time,” Ania whispered, sweetly kissing his mouth in gratitude as he pulled gently away.

“Yes. It does,” he whispered, wrapping Ania close while she drifted off into an exhausted sleep.

He watched Ania resting peacefully in his arms, glad that they had reached an accord that allowed the intimacy of such moments between them. She had said he made her feel safe. Well, she made him feel like he was doing what he was meant to do. Their relationship was the one thing finally starting to be right in his life.

Now he wanted Dorian there to share it with them.

Despite Ania’s lecture about relying on junior members of his crew, Synar was never going to be able to do that until Dorian was safely onboard again. Soon he would head back to the bridge to check on the search and see what else he might do to aid it.

Looking at Ania’s peaceful face in sleep, he thought about what Dorian had said about the centuries being long without a willing female to warm your bed. His thoughts were on finding his friend, but his spirit was also full of gratitude for what he had already found.

For a few more moments, Synar held Ania close and let himself enjoy knowing that his mate was finally with him where she belonged.

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KEEP READING in this ebook to read an excerpt from the next book in the series.

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Excerpt from THE SIREN’S CALL (Book Three)

“Did you let me do that?” Gwen demanded, glaring down at the panting female splayed out on the mat at her feet.

“We’ve been fighting for weeks. Have I not thrown you down enough for you to know I would never willing let you best me?” Ania demanded back, reaching up a hand. “Stop glaring and help me up. I don’t feel that sorry for you.”

Gwen snorted, still unable to believe she’d truly put the new and now more robust version of Ania down even as she yanked the sturdy female to her feet, barely exerting any effort.

Her physical strength was growing and it wasn’t just her imagination. Getting stronger was just one of many changes she discovered was happening to her since the mating cord to Dorian had been completed.

“You know damn well I’m not that good yet. If you didn’t let me toss your ass, then how the hell did it happen?” Gwen demanded, her promise to talk more respectfully to her trainer, teacher, and friend temporarily forgotten in her struggle to understand her new skills.

“I’m not quite sure,” Ania replied calmly, retrieving her fighting stick and leaning on it. “You were in some kind of fighting zone that I couldn’t penetrate. It is much like the way Dorian fights. Perhaps he gave that to you with your mating. I had heard Sirens shared all they were, but this is a bit extreme even for him.”

Gwen shrugged. “Just before—well, it was like I saw everything you were going to do in my head. One minute I’m contemplating whether or not to trust it, and the next—wham—you were flat on the mat. Hell, I didn’t even know I had moved until I saw you at my feet.”

“What you did in besting me was most impressive for a warrior with your limited training,” Ania praised, bowing her head. “Do you think your intuition is growing as well?”

“Yes. It’s just one more thing you were right about I guess. Though it’s more like I’m reading minds than predicting the future like Zade or Synar do,” Gwen said, seeing Jurek walk through the door and give Ania an assessing look, which she missed with her back turned.

“Have to say though that I still don’t see the benefit of intuition. For example, I certainly don’t need to read my old trainer’s mind to know Jurek has a crush on you. And frankly, I’d just as soon not see what form he wishes that admiration could take. Sheesh—he needs a female. Why doesn’t he just visit Calliope? I happen to know she likes servicing all the males,” Gwen said, tossing her fighting stick from hand to hand for something to do. She had a hard time being still lately, and she was reading minds a lot more than she was comfortable admitting to Ania who would only scoff or laugh at her misery.

Ania laughed, unaffected by the passing desires of other males for her. Jurek was a fine male, but there was only one in her life that counted, a fact she was grateful for because alone he was enough of a distraction. Synar had been talking about having children for the last two days and she couldn’t get him to cease dreaming of her carrying his child. Certainly once she had dreamed of that also, even when she had assumed herself beyond childbearing age. Now she couldn’t handle thinking of children after Malachi had informed her they would be demon babies. And she still hadn’t found a way to confess that to Synar.

She sighed and brought her attention back to Gwen.

“Odd that you are able to read Jurek so well. I would say that in addition to your enhanced fighting skills, you have also acquired some of Dorian’s ability to read personal energy. Combined with what you already biologically inherited from your Thelorian father, your intuitive skills should be more than equal to Synar’s now,” Ania said, nodding in approval. “Of course, learning to
control
those abilities will still prove a great challenge for the irrational Earthling you mostly remain.”

Gwen settled for a glare over the insult. Ignoring Ania’s teasing to focus on the bigger picture was becoming second nature. Her Khalsa trainer was teaching her to keep her mind calm even when her emotions got out of control. It was more than simple being calm under pressure. It was the ability to calm herself when she wanted to be calm. It still took every ounce of will she had, but she had mastered it around Ania.

“If that’s true, then this mating deal just keeps getting worse,” she said morosely. “Making me perceptive to other people’s sexual needs when I’m personally unable to do anything except wish for him is not a very good wedding gift if you ask me. I like being physically stronger, but Zade could have kept the touchy-feely stuff to himself.”

“The creators sometimes use circumstances like your unusual mating to bestow what they wish a being to have as gifts. Because of his situation, I doubt Dorian had all that much control over what you got from him,” Ania said with a shrug.

“Are you telling me you believe your deities are partly responsible for the Klageldon dung situations I’m going through?” Gwen asked, rolling her eyes at how ridiculous it sounded to her. “Do they hate me or something?”

“You should feel honored about your gifts. It took Dorian three years of training to put me on the mat. You managed to do it less than a week after the cord was completed. Doesn’t that make you feel better about some of your new skills?”

Gwen laughed, but finally nodded. “Yes. I suppose it does.”

“Of course I was a lot younger when I trained Dorian. It could be that after eight hundred years I’ve merely slowed down enough to be bested by an Earthling,” Ania said, grinning at the flash of irritation in Gwen’s eyes. “Perhaps I should just be ashamed of myself for being so out of practice.”

Ania saw the punch in the arm coming, but figured she deserved it when it landed harder than she’d anticipated. Laughing, she danced away from Gwen to rub the mock wound. The young warrior definitely was getting stronger. She hit like a male lately.

“You just had to ruin the moment for me, didn’t you?” Gwen demanded.

“You make it too easy wearing your mixed feelings for Dorian all over your attitude that way. Why don’t we try meditating again? I know you say you can’t quiet your mind enough, but I think we should practice each day regardless,” Ania said. “Visions come during meditation much like they do through dreams.”

“If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have said no yesterday. Let’s go then,” Gwen said, jogging off the mat and putting the fighting stick back on the wall. “I haven’t seen him in my head in several days. I’m ready to send Malachi to try again. Anything is better than waiting for something to happen.”

Ania shook her head. “No. Malachi said it would do no good because there’s an energy block on Dorian’s end of the cord. Malachi can’t break through it without harming him. He said Dorian probably blocked it off to keep his captors from knowing it was there. When the demon has nothing to personally gain from being less than truthful about the situation, I find I can believe him.”

Gwen sighed, hoping whatever Zade was doing to himself energetically wasn’t hurting him. She didn’t need more worry. She was already doing enough. In fact, worry about him and Sarinnea seemed like all she did when she wasn’t working or training.

Ania hung up her fighting stick and went to retrieve her shoes, stalling while Gwen mentally wrestled her concerns. She was all too aware of the turmoil in her pupil and friend, but had said little about it. She didn’t want to throw Gwen into a depression. So far Gwen had managed to hold up best when she managed to push away the worry on her own.

“Have you seen Dorian’s meditation room?” Ania asked at last, not questioning Gwen’s quiet frown or the single shake of her head the question brought. “It’s very comforting. A lot of his energy is there. I think you’ll like it. We’ll try that today instead of his quarters.”

“If it makes me cry, I’ll put you on your ass again. All I do is worry and cry. Both are nothing but a waste of energy and time,” Gwen said.

“Do not be so prideful. Besides—if you cry, who will see or care?” Ania said with shrug. “Your tears are not a sign of weakness, but rather evidence of the depth of your feelings for your mate. They break down your physical and mental walls. They might even make the meditation more possible for you.”

Gwen sighed as they headed out the door and down the hall to the room she’d purposely never visited. The missing male’s energy was there, but he wasn’t, and she knew it would only make her miss Zade more to expose herself to it. Being already full on the torture of missing her mate, she had intentionally stayed away.

When Ania held the door wide, Gwen took a deep breath and reluctantly stepped across the threshold. Inside there was blessed peace and the same calm Dorian exuded. Unable to stop them, tears rolled unchecked down Gwen’s face as feeling him there only made her miss him more than ever. She had never fully appreciated the calming affect he had on her until he was gone. Now it was one of the things she missed the most.

“Here—wear this,” Ania said, holding a robe up for Gwen as they both slipped off their shoes. She was pleased when Gwen just slipped her arms into it without debate. “Use the sleeves to dry the tears you shed for him. Dorian would hate that. He’s very particular about his clothes.”

Gwen snickered at Ania’s teasing even as she sniffed. “It almost feels like he’s here,” she said. “I expect him any moment to come through the door frowning and complaining.”

Ania nodded and smiled. “Yes. Dorian has embedded his energy into everything in this space. It stands in defiance of any energy coming through the door that might disrupt the peace. No holy place has ever been guarded better. Dorian is more than just strong in body. His spirit is immense.”

“I don’t know how I stayed away from him for as long as I did. I also can’t let myself believe that what we had ends like this—with him abducted and us not able to find him,” Gwen said.

She lifted her arms and saw the long sleeves hanging over her fingertips. She was tall enough to handle the length of the robe, but having been made to fit a tall Siren male, the sleeves were too long for her. It was like wearing a boyfriend’s sweater in school, she supposed. And
why
did Zade always make her think of the sentimental aspects of her mother’s culture?

“I swear Zade has turned me into some damn wimpy Earth female. All I want to do is wrap myself in this robe, lie down, and cry myself to sleep. Only sheer will power, and the knowledge of how stupid that would be, keeps me from doing it,” Gwen confessed.

“I can feel your distress, but I do not think it is necessarily a negative. It validates how close in spirit you are with your missing mate. Kneel down on the pillow over there,” Ania said, pointing to the braided rug and pillow that Dorian brought from Rylen.